


Years Later—The What He Gave Up Job

by crayonbreakygal



Series: The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Series [4]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Drama, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25757461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: He gave it all up to save them.
Relationships: Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
Series: The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Series [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741693
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Years Later—The What He Gave Up Job

**Author's Note:**

> We know they're in New Orleans. We know there are new characters.

Years Later—The What He Gave Up Job

Takes place…whenever they get the damn show made again and we can watch it.

“I look like I have a squirrel on my head.”

“Excuse me?”

“The humidity here is absolutely horrible. A hurricane? Why would they think that setting up shop in a place that regularly has hurricanes is such a bright idea.”

Nate sighed. When Sophie was on one of her rants, he knew he’d have to let her “go at it” until she tired of telling him what was going wrong. It could last quite a while from what he could tell was building.

“Parts of the United States…”

Sophie interrupted him again. Now was the time he might want to keep his mouth shut.

“London is so lovely. Or how about Paris. For goodness sake, even Sweden would be better than this humid ( _yeah well, the southern United States was humid_ ), alligator crawling ( _alligators?_ ), raining constantly ( _in London and Portland it did rain quite a bit_ ) disaster. I found a cockroach the size of my hand yesterday. In my bath.”

Nate didn’t want to tell Sophie “I told you so”, so he didn’t. She should have known when the three asked for her help, that there would be consequences.

“I don’t mind the food so much because the beignets are to die for. Eliot made this gumbo that literally melted in my mouth.”

Nate tried not to salivate too much as she described the food. Now that he would miss.

“Parker stuffed so many beignets in her mouth, I thought she was going to choke. I think it was just to frustrate Hardison. Pieces flew everywhere, which started a fight with Eliot because he had just cleaned the floor.”

Oh, how Nate did not miss the antics of those three. Refereeing had always been mostly Sophie’s job, although he often had to chastise them to stop so that they could get on with the business at hand.

“At least the view from my place is to die for. If there were people on the street. It’s so quiet.”

It was quiet where Nate was too. He actually enjoyed it.

“Darling, you’ll be getting a care package in the mail. Look for it. Please tell Daisy or is it Elena, whatever. I can’t remember the name, to make sure and get it to you.”

Nate watched as his hand shook a little. “It’s Maria. Remember? You hired her.”

“Well, dear, you need someone to watch you.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Nate angrily told her.

“No, of course, you don’t. It’s just you’ll brood, close yourself off, even though you do have the most wonderful view. Just make sure that Sterling does not catch up with you.”

“He’s not going to catch up with me.”

Nate looked down at his watch, knowing that his time was short. As he looked over at the street to his left, he noticed someone trying to not look at him. First mistake. They weren’t that great a tail, so he could avoid them if he took another right and ducked into one of the shops.

“So you say.”

Sterling was the least of his worries. “I’m fine. I just have to finish this book, have a nice, quiet dinner, with a nice, quiet drink.”

“Not too much.”

Another thing that they still could not agree upon. Nate still drank. Not that much, but he did.

“Off you go, my love.”

“Sophie?”

Why did he feel like he’d never see her again? That itch on the back of his neck, like something was going to go horribly wrong in the near future had him worry. And the fact that he was followed virtually everywhere. Sophie didn’t have to know that he had abandoned their beautiful villa with their maid (Maria). The backpack dug into his hip as he tossed it over the fence. The climb wasn’t as easy as it used to be. That may have been because his hip was bothering him in addition to his shoulder smarting from the fall a few days before.

“Nate?”

“I have to go. Tell the others I said hello. Be safe.”

“I do love you, darling. Take care.”

“Love you too.”

That growl was familiar.

“He put ketchup in it. Ketchup. Who does that, man?”

It had to be…

“In my Etouffee. Then Parker had to gag when she saw that there was crawfish in it. I swear neither one of them would know good food if it hit them.”

Nate’s stomach rumbled in response. He didn’t have a lot of charge left on his phone, so he would have to hurry Eliot’s grumping along just a bit. He had to find a safe space in which to hole up.

“Hardison is not a big fan of fish.”

“Well, this isn’t exactly fish. Come on. They just have to widen their palate. So damn hard to deal with sometimes.”

Nate knew that Eliot didn’t mind dealing with those two much at all. He just liked to complain to someone, anyone who would listen who wasn’t Sophie. Sophie would give him ideas on how to handle Parker and Hardison. Nate would just nod and let it go on until Eliot grew tired.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, so we got this job.”

“No.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

“No.”

“I just, you know how Parker gets.”

“Yes, I know how Parker gets. And the answer is no.”

“Wasn’t like I was askin’ you to get your ass to New Orleans or anything.”

Wasn’t like he could get there anyway. He’d be flagged the minute he tried to get on a plane. Too many cops.

“No.”

“It’s just, she’s not you. I know, I know. She does things differently. Just as good. But different. Doesn’t take as many chances.”

Bullshit, Nate wanted to say. He knew Parker and what kind of chances the woman would take with the rest of them.

“No.”

“Alright. But if you…”

“No.”

“Parker made the oven almost explode the other night.”

At least he got his phone charged. It was a burner. He wondered if Hardison had figured it out. Or the man just wasn’t mentioning it. They were careful, really careful with how they communicated. Nate could call and get messages from a secure line. Then he could call in and talk to them. They couldn’t reach him. That’s the way he wanted it to be. Of course, with all that was going on, he was glad that Hardison had set it up that way.

“Almost?”

“Well, made such a huge mess, I thought Eliot was gonna bust a blood vessel or something. She was trying, no, attempting to make beignets. It did not go well. Sophie turned around and walked out without a word.”

Nate would have done the same. Sophie was learning.

“She thought she could surprise us. Almost burning the place down. Surprise.”

Nate sighed as he leaned against the hard stone at his back. He really did not want to talk to Hardison while he was trying to shield himself from the rain that was pouring. He was trying to shield himself from it as much as possible.

“Hey, you might wanna close that window you have open. It’s hard to hear you.”

“I like it.”

“Just sayin’. So.”

“So?”

“You called me.”

Nate couldn’t remember if he had called Hardison or vice versa.

“I just, um, I hadn’t heard, you know, what happened on that last job. Sophie was worried.”

“Uh-huh. Right. It’s fine. Still not as smooth as when you were here. And my damn computer…”

Nate could hear another voice in the background, shuffling, a small crash.

“That’s mine. Get, get your own,” Hardison was saying to someone who was in the room with him. “Sorry. People need to understand that my equipment is my equipment. I like my things just so.”

Nate knew that too which was why way back when he had his own laptop. Hardison didn’t trust him with anything that was designated for Alec Hardison.

“Now, as I was saying. Did you want…”

Nate could hear a car off in the distance. Maybe he should hang up and get the hell out of where he was.

“No. Just checking in. I have to go. Tell Sophie, tell the others…”

Nate hesitated. He was not that mushy. He most certainly did not do those long speeches where he told each and every one of them what they meant to him. Even the speech he gave them on the Maltese Falcon hadn’t lasted that long. He missed them so damn much it hurt.

“Hey, Sophie said something about visiting.”

Dammit, no. She couldn’t. Not now.

“No. Tell her it’s not necessary. Alright?” Did he sound desperate? He hoped not. “I’m fine. Everything here is fine. Yeah, fine.”

Dammit. Now he didn’t sound fine.

“Whatever you say, man. I gotta go anyhow. Someone keeps trying to take my stuff. Hey, come back here.”

“Take care…” Nate was cut off. He was going to say take care of them. Just in case. Just in case.

“What did you say to him?”

Nate’s head spun. Say what to whom?

“What?” That might have come out a bit harsh, Nate thought.

“Hardison.”

“Nothing. I swear.”

“Good. It was probably new guy. If I can just get a handle…”

“Parker, you can handle it. I know you can.”

He was shivering from the dampness. Nate just hoped it wouldn’t snow soon. He didn’t have the right clothes or any dry clothes to help ward off the coldness.

“Really? It’s just the both of them are driving me nuts, I tell ya. Sophie’s been a big ole grump too. She misses you.”

Oh god, he missed her something fierce. Just as he missed the others.

“So, do anything fun?”

“Fun?”

Oh great, now she wanted to know what he did during his days alone.

“You know. Fun? I guess fun to you is reading a book or watching one of those murder mysteries. Right?”

What he wouldn’t do for a warm bed and a cup of coffee right then. His fingers ached from the cold.

“Yeah, right, Parker. Did you have a question?”

“Nope. Just wondering what you were doing. I’m just waiting for them to get back from…”

A rat startled Nate, phone flying from his cold fingers. “Shit.”

“Nate? You there? Nate?”

“Sorry, dropped the phone. You were saying?”

“It’s going great. Just great.”

Oh boy, her voice was too bright, too much. If things were actually going that great, she’d be telling him about the guys’ antics. So maybe not so great.

“Parker?”

“It’s just, sometimes I just want to crawl through an air duct and not think. I’m always having to think now. Did you always have to think? I know, I know. I’m not supposed to ask.”

“No, no. It’s ok. Yes. Contingency after contingency.”

Nate had no contingency for this one. He couldn’t ask for help. No way was he pulling them in. He promised he would keep them safe and out of what he’d gotten himself into.

“You know, Nate. I don’t have a plan M. I don’t know why. I just, I can’t.”

Nate could never have used plan M either. People died. Plan M never happened in reality. Wait. Plan M did happen, except he planned it as the last resort, that last job they all did together. They all died together, except for him. This was exactly why he was in the predicament he was in at the moment. He didn’t die. It seemed so long ago when they were all in Portland, when he planned all of their deaths, stole that black book, and walked away with his hand in Sophie’s. That was so long ago, a lifetime ago. Now all he wanted to do was go back, rewind, take all their hands and run, never going into that building, stealing that book.

“Nor should you. You do you, Parker. It’s your team.”

“No, it’s not. It’s your team. There’s no way.”

“Yes. Your way. Your team. You know them just as well, I mean better than I do now. You won’t let them down.”

Nate tucked his free hand into his side, attempting to warm it. He was so glad that Parker couldn’t see him, how he was. She would move heaven and earth to get him out of this, which was why he’d never tell her or the others what he’d done to keep them safe.

“I know. I miss you, you know that?”

“Yeah. Miss you too.” That was about as far as Nate could go by saying that he loved each and every one of them. “Gotta go.”

“Yep. Me too. Eliot is going to make us eat something strange tonight. Sophie keeps telling me I’ll like it. I hate strange things floating in my bowl.”

“Just give it a try.”

“I know.”

Nate’s phone then died, out of power. Laying his head on his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs, he shivered. Crying wouldn’t help, but he couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. 

If only they knew what he’d given up. Eliot would run to save him. Hardison would hack into whatever was needed. Parker would steal the world. Sophie, Sophie wouldn’t stop until he was safe, which was why he hadn’t told her or the others what he had done. They were safe, happy, and healthy. That was all that mattered.


End file.
